Mail-box.



Patented Sept. 4, I900.

0. H. .OBENDVORFF'L' um BOX.

(Application filed 1m. 17, 1960.,

(No Model.)

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ATTOBNEKS.

UNITED "STATE PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER H. ORENDORFF, OF BLOOMING GROVE, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-BOX.

SPEGIFIGATIO1\T formingpart of Letters Patent No. 657,356, dated September 4, 1900.

Application filed March 17, 1900. Serial No. 9,289. (No model.)

To a whom it may concern.-

a citizen of the United States, residing at Blooming Grove, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mail-boxes for receiving mail at residences, olfices, and other places, and particularly in rural towns and districts; and the objects of the same are to provide a mail-box which will be simple in construction, efiicient in use, which will be water-tight, and which will be provided with an automatic latch for closing the entrance to the box when the mail has been placed therein or removed therefrom. I attain these objects by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail-box made in accordance with my invention, the box being shown closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the box open. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section thereof. Fig. 4 is a View in elevation of the inner or sliding compartment. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the catch.

Like numerals of reference designate like parts wherever they occur in the diiferent views.

In said drawings, 1 is an outer casing,which may be either cylindrical or rectangular in cross-section and may be made of tin, sheetiron, or other suitable material. This casing is closed at the top 2 and open at the bottom.

The inner compartment or: casing 3 consists of a sliding or telescopic section of similar shape tothe outer casing1,butslightly smaller in cross-sectional area, in order that it may slide freely within said outer casing. The inner casing has an aperture 4 in itsfront portion, and this aperture extends nearly from end to end of the casing, leaving the portions 5 and 6 intact at the top and bottom of the aperture. Passing through the wall of the outer casin g are two rivets or stops 7 7, and these stops are in the required position to sustain the weight of the inner casing when the box is opened, the upper margin 5 of the aperture 4 resting upon the stops to prevent the entire withdrawal of the inner compartment when the box is opened. The upi per end of the inner compartment maybe Be it known thatI, OLIVER H. ORENDORFF,

open, while the lower end is provided with a bottom 8. A curved handle and catch 9 extend from, the front to the rear edge of the bottom 8, and consists of a bowed striplO, provided with a finger-loop 11 and a catch 12 for a bail or latch 21. The catch 12 consists of the inclined portion 14 and the recess 15.

Two lugs 16 16 project upward from the top 2 of the outer casing, and journaled in these lugs is a bail or latch 21, consisting of the upper cross-bar 17, the arms 18 extending downward and passing outward through the hearings in the lugs 16 to form the members 19 and the arms 20 20, which extend down outside the casing 1 and are connected by the latch-bar 21 below the bottom 8 of the inher compartment 3. The upper crossbar 17 is not in the same plane as the arms 20, and the result of this arrangement is that when the mail-box is suspended from this cross-bar 17 and the latch-bar 21 is swung outward it permits the inner casing to slide out from the outer casing by gravity, and when the inner casing is pushed back into the outer casing the latch-bar 21 automatically swings under the bottom and is held in place in the recess 15 of the catch 12.

My device maybe conveniently suspended from an arm projecting outward from a post of the required height to hold the mail-box within easy reach of a person in a vehicle or on horseback.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that my device is particularly well adapted for use in rural districts, as the mail-box may be suspended from a post ortree outside the gate in position to be quickly accessible to a mailcarrier or neighbor who has been requested to procure the mail from the post-office in town. Outgoing mail may also be placed in the box for collection. It will also be noted that the device is of simple construction, is

entirely stormproof, and cannot easily get out of order.

While I have described a particular form 'of latch and catch for holding the inner casing in place, it will be understood that other means may be resorted to for serving this purpose which will fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I do not wish to be restricted in this particular.

Havingthus described my invention what Ic1aimis. l r 1. A telescopic mail-box consisting of an outer casing having closed side walls and top and an open bottom, an inner compartment having an aperture in its side, a closed bot; tom and an open top, stops passing through the wall of the outer casing and through the aperture in the inner casing to limit the outward movement of said inner compartment, and a gravity-latch for holding the two telescopic sections in closed position; suhstan-r stantiall y as described.

2. A mail-box comprising an outer casing,

a telescopic inner compartment having an aperture in its side wall, stops to limit the outward movement ofsaidinn'er compartment, a curved handler-on the bottom of said compartment, acatch on said handle, and a gravity-latch pivoted at the top of the outer casing,'extending down outside said casing and provided with a cross-bar. latch adapted to engage the catch autom'aticallywhen the inner compartment is pushed into the outer easing, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- EIIBSSGS? OLIVER H. ORENDORFF. Witnesses:

FRANK B. GABRIEL, JOHN U; GARVER. 

